A Different Choice
by ellie ranesburg66
Summary: The first friend Harry ever had was bound for Gryffindor, but what if he met a different family at the station that day? Perhaps with one different choice the entire fabric of the universe could change. AU, but not too much, most plot lines stay the same.
1. Chapter 1

Harry looked around at the train station worriedly, he had gotten his letter a couple of weeks ago and had finally persuaded to get his uncle to bring him to King's Cross (" If you bring me you won't have to see me for a whole year, and I'll try to find somewhere else to stay for the summer.") But suddenly he had a new dilemma; he had no idea where the platform was.

"Mum, really stop fussing I have everything! Look, trunk, owl, wand, shoes-Ow, what was that for?" A boy a few years older than Harry moaned as his mother wacked him across the head. But Harry barely noticed the fact that he was older, or that his mother was still fretting over him, he was too busy moving as fast as he could towards them, they _had _to know where the platform was!

"Umm… excuse me?" He asked politely, standing there feeling a bit awkward with no parents to escort him and a screeching owl in one hand. "Do you know how to…umm…get onto the platform?"

The boy grinned, "Yeah, muggleborn right? You'll love this, see that wall? Run straight at it, you'll pop right out in the station."

Harry looked at him skeptically, why was it that he seemed to attract bullies like magnets? The boy patted him on the back, "Don't worry, there's nothing to it, here Dad'll go first, watch closely now."

The older man smiled in an oddly smug way at Harry and sprinted at the wall before disappearing. Harry's jaw dropped, "Awesome!" he breathed, this was almost as good as Dudley's pig tail. The boy's Mum smiled fondly at him before going through after her husband.

"Thought I was yanking your chain didn't you? I'm Cedric, Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff third year, you are?" Cedric asked, holding his hand out.

Harry grasped it, "Harry Potter, clueless first year." Cedric's eye brows shot up in surprise for a moment, but he recovered quickly, "It's nice to meet you Harry, any idea what House you want to be in? Gryffindor like your parents I'm guessing."

Harry filed this information away for later, "Not sure, not Slytherin though, I met this weirdo kid who looked like a vampire, acted like Slytherin was the only decent House, not sure I could deal with people like that all day."

Cedric pulled a face, "Huffelpuffs are _technically _supposed to get along with everyone, but I have to admit most of those Slytherin kids rub me the wrong way. Damn, look at the time, come on we've got to get onto the train…and Mum'll want to say goodbye." He shuddered at the thought, and turned towards the barrier, "Say, if you want to sit by me, you're welcome in the Puff compartment, fourth one down, probably filled with explosion noises and coated in yellow and black by now, tell them Ced sent you ."

Harry grinned and nodded enthusiastically, his first friend and he hadn't even gotten onto the platform yet! He ran at the barrier at full speed and onto a bustle of noise and activity, just when he thought this magic stuff couldn't get any better, there were new friends, train stations inside of brick walls, and…was that a tarantula in a shoe box?

* * *

Five minutes later Harry was walking down the train nervously, what if Cedric's friends didn't like him? What if they kicked him out of the compartment and he had to sit with that obnoxious pale kid? What if- Then he realized he had knocked on the compartment door and had pulled it open.

"Umm, hi? Cedric told me to-" He began looking at them worriedly, his train of thought from the hallway resuming.

"Say no more kid, you're in the Puff compartment, as long as you don't aspire to join the Hufflepuff Hunt, become the next Dark Lord, or have a porcupine hidden on your person, you're very welcome." Said a grinning boy who for some reason had charred hair and multicolor eyebrows, an odd combination that Harry found just a bit frightening.

Harry looked at him oddly, one of his eyes was bright blue while the other seemed to be a strange onyx color, just adding to the general madness that seemed to emanate from him. A pale boy with black hair rolled his eyes and made the loopy symbol with his finger while the tan brown haired girl next to him hit him in the arm. Finally a freckled girl with dirty blond hair and piercing blue eyes stood up, shaking her head at her friends.

"Zane, you scared him! Come on in, don't worry, we aren't all as crazy as him. I'm Shiloh Wyze; this is Zane Alesi, Myles Alfson, Lazaro Tinbrooke, and Ignacia Mutart." Harry raised his eyebrow at the name Ignacia Mutart, and the brown haired girl buried her face in her hands, "My parents are cruel. Call me Iggy, and Lazaro likes to be called Laz, as he'll no doubt be telling you the entire ride, regardless of what you call him."

Harry smiled weakly, it simply wasn't possible to have, how many? One, two, three, four, five people accept him in as many minutes, if things were this easy he would have loads of friends instead of just the rather creepy spiders in his cupboard.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Myles dropped the telescope he was holding with a bang, black hair shooting up comically for a moment as he jumped in shock.

Before the rest of them could vocalize their opinions on the fact that the great Harry Potter had just walked into their compartment, looking utterly normal, just one more midget first year, Cedric walked in.

"Hey Harry, good you found the compartment, did everyone introduce themselves?" He asked calmly, clapping him on the shoulder and half pushing him into a seat.

Then he noticed Zane's eyebrows, "Umm, Z…what the hell happened to your face?" Zane gave a roar of mock anger and jumped on top of him, wrestling him to the floor as the rest of them stood on their seats and cheered for them to, "Kill him Zane!" or "Come on Ced, put those Quidditch muscles to good use!" And suddenly Harry found himself laughing and cheering along with them, and when Cedric won he was being carried around on the older boy's shoulders in a victory lap around the compartment which ended in both of them falling to the floor. Harry couldn't remember laughing so much in his entire life and he found himself wondering if Hufflepuff wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

After everything had settled down and they were all eating rather delicious magical candy that Harry had insisted on paying for (the first food he had ever had enough of to share, not to mention someone to share it _with_) the topic moved onto embarrassing parents trying to hug and kiss them in front of the whole train station.

"I mean, really, you'd think that they had gotten Obliviated about everything before the age of seventeen!" Iggy groaned, recounting the tale of how on her first ride to Hogwarts her mum had grabbed onto her and loudly exclaimed that she couldn't believe this was the little girl who they couldn't get to talk or stop drinking a bottle for two and a half years. The whole story was done with high pitched voices and marvelous facial expressions that sent everyone into stitches, then the feared question was asked, "So, Harry why were you alone on the station?" Myles asked curiously, he had seen Harry wandering around alone and confused through the window and had been wondering about it for the pasttwo hours.

"My relatives… don't like magic much…" Harry muttered deciding to downplay it, anyway, who would believe that the "Boy-Who-Lived", as they were calling him, had slept in a cupboard?

Laz nodded sympathetically, "Yeah, my grandparents aren't big fans either, they rush to my house every time I'm home hoping to "bring my struggling soul back to the light." He said with a chuckle, shaking his head fondly at his beloved, if a little odd, grandparents.

Shiloh gave Harry a piercing look, but decided to let it go for now, it could wait until she actually had more proof that something was wrong. Quickly the conversation moved back to Hogwarts and Harry was soon being regaled of the "superior awesomeness of Hufflepuff", the "hunkilicous Oliver Wood" (which all the Hufflepuff boys seemed to find incredibly disgusting, he later found out that Oliver was the best Keeper in the school and had thwarted their victory countless times the past year), and "Snape the evil slime ball" who Harry was not looking forward to meeting.

All too soon the train stopped and they all piled out with promises to see Harry at the feast, telling him it would be awesome if he was in Hufflepuff, though Zane informed him he would not be welcome if he brought porcupines with him. Then he was alone with Hagrid and the rest of the nervous first years as they rowed across the lake, seeing Hogwarts for the first time…it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen, better than anything Little Whinging had to offer. As they walked into a small room the girl next to him began spouting out random knowledge at an alarming rate and he mentioned that she would make a good Ravenclaw, which he had heard all about from Myles whose older brother was a proud member of that House. She beamed at him and told him she wasn't quite sure where she wanted to go, and that Gryffindor sounded amazing. Secretly, he agreed but Hufflepuff wasn't a bad option either, they seemed friendly and unlike the nasty boy from Madame Malkins who had come into their compartment halfway through only to be hexed out the door by six slighted Hufflepuffs who had just been described as "powerless disgraces to wizardry."

Gryffindor held a different appeal to him, his parents' old House, the House of the strong, brave, and chivalrous, Dudley would never mess with Harry again. But the thought of his friends among the Hufflepuffs sent him spinning; he had never had friends before and now found he quite liked it. All too soon McGonagall was leading them into the Great Hall and names were being called, his eyes unconsciously drifted over to the table scattered with yellow and black, finding his friends waving at him and pulling faces. Cedric sported hot pink hair which he was obviously trying to get rid of, while Zane had somehow procured an actual badger that seemed to gnawing on his ear regardless of his attempts to free himself of it. All his worries dissolved, he had made up his mind, his friends were in Hufflepuff, and so into Hufflepuff he would go.

He walked up to the hat calmly, studiously ignoring all the whispers and plopped it onto his head.

"Ah, hello Mr. Potter, I don't have much to do here, you've already made up your mind. Although may I suggest Gryffindor? You would certainly belong, I haven't seen such bravery since your mother put me on."

Harry swelled with pride, but thought of his friends again with a smile, "I'd like Hufflepuff please."

"Loyal, a good trait in a Hufflepuff, but you have thought out the fact that your friends are two years ahead of you? You won't have classes with them, nor will you share a dorm room or visit Hogsmeade with them for several years."

Harry's heart plummeted, but he remained steadfast, regardless of if he would be in classes with them, he had liked the sound of Hufflepuff, loyal, hardworking, and dedicated they were the opposite of the Dursleys…which was just what he wanted right now.

"Well, if your sure, better be…HUFFLEPUFF!" The black and yellow table deafened the hall with cheering as Harry walked towards them, Zane, Myles, and a couple of older boys he didn't recognize met him halfway and hoisted him up onto their shoulders screaming, "New midget! We've got a new midget!"Unlike the other tables who were grumbling about not getting _Harry Potter _the Badgers were just stoked to have a new kid at their table, almost the same ritual had been performed on every new Hufflepuff, older boys or girls ran up to them cheering, hoisted them on their shoulders, or danced them around in a circle, always putting them down at the table and transfiguring their robes to have yellow trim.

He found a seat in between Cedric and Zane who solemnly offered him the badger, informing him that her name was Frieda and to take good care of her. Harry accepted the badger and not really knowing what to do with it put it on his lap where it nestled down and went to sleep.

The entire table cheered again at the next name called, this time for, "Smith, Zacharias" who smiled loftily as he meandered over to the table, looking utterly ridiculous. After the older years got over their shock at the firstie's behavior they jumped up and levitated him all the way back to the table and hit him at the same time with the color changing spell, which somehow managed to turn his whole robe yellow much to his displeasure.

After "Zabini, Blaise" was sorted into Slytherin, food appeared, more food than he had ever seen in his life, even when he snuck out of his cupboard to watch the Dursley's Christmas feast. Suddenly he was shoveling food onto his plate faster than he, and the now very awake, Frieda could eat it.

"What, never seen food before Harry?" a girl in his year who had introduced herself as Hannah asked, scooping some mashed potatoes onto her plate. He didn't answer, just kept on eating, thinking to himself, if real food tastes this good it's no wonder Dudley's so fat.

"How are you so skinny if you eat so much?" Cedric asked in awe as Harry finished his third drumstick.

"Never got this much before." He muttered in between bites, then froze when he realized what he had said. Everyone within hearing distance looked at him in confusion, he tried to play it off, "Who ever gets this much, I mean look at it, it's a bleeding feast!"

Myles gave him a searching look before turning back to his food, and Harry had the oddest feeling that Myles _knew_about the Dursleys, and it was not a comforting feeling.

Then suddenly the food had disappeared and a prefect was standing up and calling for the first years to follow him, Harry obeyed quickly and soon forget Myles in the rush of discovering moving stairs, talking paintings, and a can throwing poltergeist named Peeves. Finally they ended up in front of a statue of a woman with a gentle smile and the prefect turned towards them with a huge grin, "Welcome home." He said, and Harry found himself smiling too, already this was better than all the years on Privet Drive put together.


	2. Chapter 2

The prefect stood there for a few moments until they all began to shift uncomfortably. "Alright guys, this is the founder of Hufflepuff, Helga Hufflepuff," he said fondly patting her arm. "Other Houses have passwords and riddles, but us, we're based on loyalty, so we've got our own way of doing things." He said proudly, then he held out his hand to the statue. "Hello Helga, it's wonderful to see you again."

She smiled softly at him and replied, "It's good to see again too Joshua, are these the new first years?"

"Yeah, poor little midgets haven't been inducted yet, speaking of which…ready to see something cool guys?" He asked, Helga reaching out and taking his hand. A flight of stairs emerged at the base of the statue, inches from his feet.

"As soon as you take her hand, she recognizes you as a Hufflepuff and lets you in. You can bring friends with you if you're polite and Helga's in a good mood. So step right up, introduce yourselves, and watch where your standing there's always someone who falls through the stairs and it always looks painful."

One brave boy stepped forward a bit timidly and held out his hand, "H-hi, I'm J-Jake, Jake Henderson."Helga reached out and took his hand, as soon as their hands connected there was a small burst of light and the stairs opened again. Jake looked at his hand in shock, on it there was a small H, barely noticeable but definitely there. The stairs closed up and he stepped aside, still looking at his hand as if he didn't know whether to be upset or excited.

After several more people shook hands with Helga and introduced themselves, Harry found himself walking towards her, struggling to keep a squirming Frieda in his arms. Seeing Helga's confused look he muttered, "She's a gift from a friend."

Helga laughed lightly, "Zane Alesi I'm guessing, I can't quite figure out whether he's a bit mad or a bit brilliant." The prefect nodded and said with a chuckle, "I don't think anyone knows really, come on Harry, let's hurry this along." Harry nodded, not even bothering to ask how the boy knew his name. "I'm Harry Potter, it's nice to meet you Helga."

She smiled at him and extended her hand, "Welcome to Hufflepuff Harry."

Slowly he reached out his hand and the statue took it in her own, there was a slight pinch on his palm, between his thumb and pointer finger, then it was over. Walking over towards the group who had already introduced themselves, admiring the small H on his hand and wondering how the other Houses didn't notice it.

Finally the introductions were done and they all walked down the stair case into a warm hallway. "For all of you who don't know, badgers traditionally live in underground burrows with hundreds of tunnels that interconnect with dozens of living spaces and escape routes. So when the school was founded, our dear matriarch began the excavation of our very own Badger Sett, helped along by her first students. Our tunnels reach all over Hogwarts, even our seventh years don't know all the exits and rooms. Don't worry about getting lost, every hundred yards there are ruins engraved onto the walls, when you touch them the quickest or best path to back to the Common Room lights up. During your time here you'll be expected to help excavate new tunnels and rooms, making your own special mark on our home. So without further ado, the Hufflepuff Common Room!"

A door ahead of them swung open and there was a round of applause from the members of Hufflepuff who had somehow managed to beat them there. After a few moments the cheers died down and a tall blond boy with a badge pinned to his chest stood up on a chair, "Hello everyone, my name is Alex Tannen, and I am your Head Boy." A new round of applause ensued which Alex managed to squash after a few moments, "To begin, I'd like to give our new First Years a warm welcome, no-no you don't have to clap again, you'll deafen the lot of us by the end of the night if you keep this up!" Alex smiled apologetically at them, "We usually aren't _this_ crazy, but you know, Sorting, welcome feast, sugar, it's safe to assume that most of us are on some sort of record breaking sugar high. Anyway, it's tradition for the leader of Hufflepuff, or a doyen, as we're supposed to be called (do us all a favor, don't call me that, it's awful and I think it was created to torture us) to give a speech about what Hufflepuff is all about. And upperclassmen, you need to hear this too, not only does it change but after a summer at home I think some of us really need to hear this."

He paused and took a deep breath before turning towards them with a new glint in his eyes and suddenly Harry realized why they all listened to this boy, he was a leader, every inch of him. Then he spoke, in a low tone that carried easily through the absolute silence, "Some of us come from generations of Hufflepuffs, you have been told since you were old enough to talk that you will be in Hufflepuff, you are not any better than the rest of us. Some of us come from mixed families, who have relatives in every House, your family doesn't care what House you are in and as long as you do as well as the rest of your family you'll be fine, you are not any better than the rest of us. Some of us come from families of a different House, you might be the first ever Hufflepuff from your family, when you write home your parents might be disappointed, shocked, or delighted, you are still not any better than the rest of us. In this room there are purebloods, muggleborns, and half-bloods, none of us are any better for who our parents are or will be. Some of us are quick enough to be Ravenclaws, ambitious enough for Slytherin, or brave enough for Gryffindor, _you are not any better than the rest of us_! We are Hufflepuffs, when the other Houses glare at their housemates for lost points or Quidditch games, we stand together. When teachers favor the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, or are prejudiced against the Slytherins, we stand together. Yes, we are over looked, yes people believe that we are duffers, soft, or magically inadequate, but we aren't! You know what we are? We're loyal, and when other Houses laze about, we work! Did you hear that Hat an hour ago? Those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil! You know why I'm Head Boy? Because I worked for it! Because I wasn't too proud to ask my Housemates for help when I couldn't transfigure my porcupine-shut up Zane- or when Professor Snape kept calling my potions "even more substandard than the pitiful average set by your pathetic excuse for a House"! That's what being in Hufflepuff is, working hard and leaning on each other! How many of you don't want to be here, have families that would kill you for this or just hate the idea of this House in general, don't be shy!"

A few first years timidly raised their hands and Alex walked towards them, "I can't force you to enjoy being a Hufflepuff, but I can sure as hell try! When I was a first year, a Slytherin hexed me in the hall just as it was clearing out and I was left alone, sobbing in the middle of the corridor wishing I was in a different House, even Slytherin! Then a fifth year who had a free period passed by, he opened up this tunnel I hadn't known was there and helped me back to the Common Room. Then he reversed the hex and just sat with me until we had to go to our next class, but before we went our separate ways he opened up my hand and pointed at that H right there and told me, "You're never as alone as everyone thinks, you've got a family right here, don't be afraid to lean on us." Then he walked away leaving me in a mild state of shock that might have had something to do with the pain potion he had shoved on me earlier." He said with a chuckle, fondly reminiscing the next period which he spent in his first potion induced haze after an injury. "The next day the Slytherin showed up with boils all over his face that even Madame Pomphrey couldn't get off. My point is, when you're here, you're home, we won't ever abandon you or let other Houses get away with bullying you. We are Hufflepuffs! We are not duffers, we are not idiots, and we are not naive! We stand together because that makes us stronger! Never be ashamed to be a Hufflepuff because we aren't as well recognized as the other Houses, who needs to be recognized when you can have friends, _real friends _who will always stand by you?"

A few seventh years in the back started chanting, "Badger, badger, badger!" and after a moment the whole Common Room had joined in and Alex had jumped off of the chair he was standing on and mingling among them, cheering with them and suddenly it didn't matter if Harry was the worst in every class as he suspected he would be, because he was part of something bigger than him, bigger than Grunnings, or Smeltings, or Stonewall High. Suddenly, Harry Potter, orphan, punching bag, and freak was part of a family.


End file.
